What a Wonderful World
by NullRitter
Summary: I present to you an underlying chapter of reality that has yet to be analyzed by those with sentience; those in control. This chapter of reality follows three like-minded individuals as they cross realities and rewrite the timeline of the reality they enter. Here, they will gain knowledge for the purpose of crossing reality again, such that they can recognize the ultimate plan.
1. Chapter 1

Prologue

* * *

><p>The ending is now here.<p>

The ending that is in fact the beginning.

That is in fact the end.

Which is a sequel to the beginning.

Which is in fact a prequel to the end.

Which is a prequel to the beginning.

Because you see, it's very misleading to say that this is the end, and that this is the beginning, because this is not the end, and this is not the beginning.

We are not observing either of those things, because, everyone, there _is _no beginning and end.

I'd like to take you further away from what you _think_ you know about time, and reality, because there is an underpinning chapter to reality that has _never _existed; no one has _ever _talked about it, and this will be the first time this has been injected into reality.

So, amplify your minds to cross the principles of time, and prepare to receive a series of events that will change the nature of reality and literally _bend _the mechanics of science.

* * *

><p><span>Arlington, VA, United States of America<span>

December 28, 2012

7:52 PM

* * *

><p>This initiating event of our story began in Arlington County, just West of the District of Columbia.<p>

Winter break had recently begun and as such, many people had been out and about, working on whatever task that had occupied their time and attention the most. However, activity had gone down significantly once the sun had set, giving the area an uncharacteristically empty and quiet air to it. A thin layer of snow coated the area, reflecting the light of the moon in interesting but simultaneously eerie ways. Everything was rather typical.

That is, until the gunshots rang out.

They were slightly muffled by the frozen wind, but still-permeated the former tranquility of the evening; the quick, sharp burp of automatic weapons, coupled with the repetitive snap of handguns echoed throughout the empty city.

Slightly quieter, but just as noticeable, were the multitude of police sirens that screamed their urgent call, all converging on a single location. Combined with the red and blue flashing lights, it served to compliment the gunfire in shattering the usually-peaceful setting of the area.

The police surrounded a nondescript building, most of them wearing relatively heavy body armor and wielding AR-15 rifles. Multiple dead officers surrounded the building, each with multiple bullet wounds to their torsos, necks, and heads. They had been in pursuit and later a firefight with a group of three individuals armed with deadly weapons and body armor.

40 minutes earlier, the police had come across something horrifying; in an alleyway they had found the body of a currently unidentified young man in his early 20s; he had sustained a broken nose, a cracked shin, and his torso had been carved open, with the internal organs removed with near-surgical precision and placed on the ground.

Following several pairs of footprints, they discovered four other bodies, also beaten and disemboweled. However, each murder appeared to have been progressively quicker, rougher, and messier. Three of the pairs of footprints matched the three individuals they were currently engaging.

Said individuals had armed up at an unknown location and hurried to the building they were currently occupying, which the police had surrounded and were currently trying to enter and apprehend the individuals.

* * *

><p>Inside the building stood the three individuals. All of them wore ballistic vests, bloodstained winter jackets, snow pantsboots, and motorcycle helmets with opaque visors. Two carried semiautomatic rifles, while the other wielded a pump-action shotgun.

All three were exhausted and hyperventilating; they had succeeded in barricading the entrance to buy them some time, but this time was quickly running out.

The tallest of the three was pacing back and forth in a way that seemed both paranoid and angry, muttering under his breath in a slightly raspy but surprising young-sounding voice.

"_GOD FUCKING DAMMIT!" _He shouted furiously, taking of his helmet, throwing it on the ground, and repeatedly stomping on it with a heavy boot.

The shadows obscuring his facial features, he turned around to face the other two, his expression absolutely livid and the sound of the police attempting (and succeeding) to break down the front door growing louder and louder. They had less than a minute left.

The second tallest hung his head and clutched his rifle tightly, expression unreadable behind his helmet.

"I can't believe this is actually fucking happening." He murmured quietly.

The shortest one turned towards him.

"Don't give me that bullshit." He snarled, eyes darting back to the window. "We _know _what happened."

"BOTH OF YOU, SHUT UP!" The tallest one shouted.

"Don't even _talk._" The shortest one said angrily, facing him. "This is all your _damn _fault, and you know it!"

"listen to me." The tallest one hissed venomously. "They will get in here, they will find us, they will KILL us, and none of this bullshit will _fucking _matter anymore!"

Before anyone could respond, the front door was smashed open, and police units were pouring into the building.

Multiple officers immediately entered the room and immediately shot two of the individuals multiple times, while the tallest one began to return fire, only to be shot in the shoulder, causing him to cry out in pain and get behind a stack of crates.

Cursing every Goddamned thing in existence, he let out one final roar of anger, put the barrel of his rifle in his mouth, and pulled the trigger.

* * *

><p>This is not what happens in our story.<p>

As you know, reality is governed by many rules and laws.

What you just witnessed was simply a reality in which certain rules prevented our story from progressing.

However, in the reality where our story takes place and is allowed to progress, _time _is the only rule. Because of this, the mechanics of science are more susceptible to…tampering.

This is the reality where our story takes place, and where the three individuals are able to trudge on.

* * *

><p><span>Arlington, VA, United States of America<span>

December 28, 2012

7:03 PM

* * *

><p>It was a quiet evening in late December, with newly fallen snow on the grass and a soft breeze blowing through the air, the setting sun causing light to bounce off the nearby ice in ominous, yet beautiful ways.<p>

A young man sat on the porch of a large house, breathing raggedly and looking off into the distance with a dead look in his eyes. His clothes were stained with blood.

His name was Isaac.

Isaac sat on his porch, remembering the recent events that had changed him, that had caused something inside him to die; that had unlocked the instant, mental rush of combined rage, glee, and animosity that manifested itself at the slightest hint of upcoming violence. However, if you were to observe Isaac, absolutely none of this would be apparent.

Isaac was a visually generic person, standing a few centimeters short of 6'0", with shaggy dark brown hair, hazel eyes that had recently begun to develop a golden tint, and an above-average build. Doing phenomenally in school, and successfully working towards a promising future, nobody would suspect him of anything odd. He was intelligent, rational, and confident, these traits enabling him to have a track record of nearly pure success. However, he had built up a behavioral history of sorts that contained sudden and violent bursts of anger and aggression, a level of self-obsession that had put many in a state of extreme unease, and a selection of permeating tendencies and traits that could only be described as sociopathic. This behavior would come and go before becoming an underlying level of his personality; it prevented an initial investigation of said behavior and allowed it to grow and fester like some sort of psychological tumor. Despite this, by some twisted miracle, Isaac almost never showed this behavior, possibly because he considered it to be an inconvenience.

An inconvenience that had recently had significant effects.

A mixture of paranoia and rage filling his mind as he continued to replay the past events over and over again in his mind, one event leading to another; the shock, the anger, and most of all, his reaction.

As for the people his actions had greatly effected, he felt absolutely _nothing. _The closest thing to an emotional acknowledgement he could muster was his animosity towards them, as if what happened had been _their _fault.

But the way he saw it, it had been their fault. And because of them, Isaac knew everything would soon be ending for him.

He knew that his life would soon be over.

He would be arrested and probably executed, if not massacred on sight.

The one fortunate thing was that his parents were away; His Mom in Berlin and his Dad working at the China Lake facility in California.

Isaac looked around, picturing the police circling his house and staining the snow red with his blood after being shot dozens of times.

He stood up and walked into the woods, his pace quickening as he began to hear the slightest whisper of sirens in the distance.

* * *

><p>There were a collection of separate paths and trails throughout these woods; and in the center a small clearing housing what used to be a construction site, with fuel tanks, decaying buildings, and abandoned motor vehicles. However, Isaac went out of his way to avoid anything familiar, trudging deeper and deeper into the dead, snowy forest.<p>

Isaac had lost track of time walking through the labyrinth of trees, and the sun was extremely close to setting, allowing for the trees to taunt him with their elongated, alien shadows.

At this point, Isaac had accepted that he would soon be found and killed in a chorus of gunfire; deprived of the substantial and epic existence he had been working on all his life, and this only made him more angry.

Looking up, he noticed that he had approached a clearing. In the center of said clearing lay a metallic, circular pad about three feet in diameter. It was tarnished and rusty, with what appeared to be several symmetrically-place, burnt-out lights.

Walking closer to the strange pad, Isaac made out a small, raised control panel of sorts.

Curiosity overcoming paranoia, he swiftly approached the panel.

Observing the battered panel, Isaac took note of various switches, dials, and knobs covering its surface; from what he could gather, he decided that this machine had not been used for decades. What puzzled him was that this devices seemed to serve no discernible purpose.

"What's something like this doing in the middle of the woods...?" Isaac muttered under his breath.

Attempting to twist some of the long-dead knobs, he noticed that on the back of the panel there was a large red button with the universal 'Power' symbol printed on it. He turned around to get a better look at it, inadvertently stepping on the circular pad.

Pressing the button, it was clear that it had been jammed. Isaac pressed with more pressure, but with no avail.

His palm still resting on the button, he looked down at the circular pad, observing the rust and scratches that adorned its surface. Oddly enough, despite it being in an open clearing, virtually no snow had fallen on it.

Suddenly, the sound of a branch snapping rang out from behind him.

Isaac jolted up in a split second, fearing that someone had followed him. However, his sudden movement resulted in him accidentally un-jamming the power button and pressing it down completely. The machine immediately roared to life and lit up, the pad beneath him surging with electricity before emitting a deafening blast of lightning that instantly consumed everything within ten feet of the pad.

Looking behind him at the location in which the stick had broken, Isaac caught a quick glimpse of two figures also in the radius of the electricity.

Robert and Jackson; his best friends that he had known for nearly his whole life.

As soon as he saw them however, his vision turned to white and he gained the feeling weightlessness. For a second, it was quiet and rather blissful.

Then pain assaulted his mind and body.

Pain so great that it could only be described as the feeling of hot lead being poured through his arteries coupled with the sensation of being hanged by his own torn-out small intestines, while lightning ravaged his spinal cord. After a couple of seconds that felt like hours, the pain abruptly subsided, and Isaac's vision went black as he went unconscious.

* * *

><p>Isaac awoke suddenly, with a very familiar emotion coursing through his veins; absolute, undiluted, motherfucking <em>anger.<em>

Letting out a guttural snarl, he attempted to stand up, but found himself unable to do so. As his senses began to return, he immediately noticed several things:

1. He was no longer on the circular pad

2. It was much warmer than before

3. He felt grass under him, which should have been impossible with all the snow that had been around him before

From this initial information, it was easy to conclude that he was in a very different location than before. The question was, how long had he been unconscious, and more importantly, where was he?

Slowly, Isaac opened his eyes. What he saw was almost enough for him to pass out again

_Nothing_ looked right. Even thought it was now full-on night, everything he could see was extremely bright and colorful, with a noticeable lack of detail. How exactly could he describe what he was seeing?

Animated.

The word that described this place perfectly, was animated. And the worst part was that Isaac had absolutely no idea in hell as to why everything looked this way.

Isaac tried to stand up, but his hands didn't seem to be working, and he fell back on the ground.

"What the…?" He said as he looked down.

In the place of his hands, Isaac somehow possessed two dark gray, stumpy appendages.

Hooves. He had fucking _hooves._

"What in the _fuck?!_" He shouted, getting more nervous by the second.

Quickly looking around, Isaac saw that he was in a small grassy clearing in the middle of a dense forest, with unfamiliar trees, foliage, and a chorus of animal sounds surrounding him. The full moon was illuminating the entire area he was in, allowing to see his surroundings. The sky was a beautiful shade of purple, with wispy clouds covering some of the abundant, shiny stars.

Looking to his left, Isaac spotted a small pond about twenty feet away. Deciding to see exactly what he looked like, he slowly stood up on all fours, taking note of how different his body felt.

After a few steps, Isaac began to get the hang of hooved-quadruped locomotion, and was at the pond in seconds.

Looking at the water's reflective surface, Isaac was met with a sight that was instantaneously seared into his brain.

He was a horse.

A _horse_.

A motherfucking _HORSE._

He had a dark gray coat, a medium-length black mane, a short black tail, and giant goldish-colored eyes. His new equine body also corresponded with his animated surroundings; he looked like something straight out of a cartoon. In fact, his head was much shorter than the usual long face horses are known for, and his nose curved away from the rest of his face, which again, was unlike a horse. And finally, his neck fell straight down from his head, to connect to his body. Usually, the neck pulled backward to reach the rest of the body. This gave him a vaguely human-like appearance.

Isaac thought he would jump back in surprise, or shout angrily at the sky, but instead he froze, holding his breath; eyes never leaving his reflection's.

After a thirty second staring contest, he sighed, pulling himself together and stopping himself from freaking out; He needed to stay calm if he wanted to survive in an unknown environment. For now, he would have no time to question whether or not he had become insane, done LSD, or gone into a coma, and would just have to assume that everything he saw and did was in real life.

As he thought, Isaac was interrupted by the muffled sound of someone calling out.

"HELLO? ANYONE AROUND? I NEED SOME FUCKIN' HELP HERE!"

Facing the direction of the voice, Isaac's earlier thoughts were confirmed: He had theorized that the machine in the woods back in Arlington had acted as some kind of teleportation device, and that everything caught in the lightning had been transported to where he was now. And since he had caught a glimpse of Jackson and Robert, who had also been caught in the electricity. Therefore, they would be nearby somewhere. And finally, Isaac had instantly recognized the voice as Robert's due to knowing him for so may years.

"ROBERT, IS THAT YOU?" He called. "IT'S ME, ISAAC!"

"YEAH, IT'S ME!" Robert replied.

"I'M IN THE CLEARING!" Isaac said. "GET OVER HERE!"

"HEY GUYS!" A third voice called out. That was probably Jack. "I'M COMING TOO!"

* * *

><p>After about a minute, Isaac was face-to-face with his two friends, both of them also horses. Robert had been reduced to a slightly smaller dark green horse with blue eyes, as well as a short dirty blond mane and tail.<p>

Jack was now a horse with an off-white coat, his usual green eyes, and a spiky red and white mane/tail. Strangely enough, Jack had a short, semi-sharp horn fused to his skull, technically making him a unicorn. Similarly, Isaac found out that he now possessed a pair of feathery wings, putting him in the category of pegasus. However, they were currently useless, as he had absolutely no idea how to use them. The functions of Jack's horn were unknown at this point, but at least it could be used for impaling anything dangerous they might come across. Isaac's mood had been thoroughly ruined when Jack made several lewd remarks pertaining to his dual 'horns'.

His mood was rejuvenated when he struck Jack in the face two seconds later.

After espousing the general talk that would come from three best friends, Isaac explained his teleportation hypothesis, which made the most sense out of the explanations they had all come up with.

They had purposely neglected to acknowledge the unsavory events that had taken place earlier back in Arlington. They couldn't afford to think about it at a time like this.

While looking around the general area, Robert noticed something.

"Hey guys, check this out!" He called from the opposite side of the clearing while Isaac and Jack searched for any indication of a trail or road in the forest.

"What the fuck is it now..." Jack trailed off as he and Isaac laid their eyes on what was possibly the first positive thing to happen that day.

In the distance stood a large, lit-up city of sorts on the edge of a tall mountain.

"_Civilization..._" Jack breathed.

"We're fuckin' saved!" Robert whooped.

"Awesome!" Isaac added, energized by this revelation, although he questioned how the fuck they hadn't noticed this until now. "It looks like it's about seven miles away, so it'll take a few hours before we get close."

"Fair enough." Robert replied, Jack nodding in agreement. "Let's get going."

And with that, they set off towards the city.

* * *

><p>The trio had been walking through the woods for what seemed like days, but in reality had most likely been a few hours. The path they had settled on had too many twists and turns for them to be sure they were going in the right direction, and the thick canopy prevented them from seeing the lights of the city.<p>

"Something isn't right." Isaac said, breaking the silence.

Robert rolled his eyes. "You mean besides the fact that we're horses in a cartoon world?"

"No, look at the sky." He replied. "It hasn't changed at all, and I get the feeling the sun should have already risen."

True to his word, the sky was exactly the same as it had been several hours ago.

The trio was cut off from there thoughts when they heard screaming and a roar shatter the perfect silence of the forest. It seemed to be far away, but not far away enough that they couldn't investigate.

"Holy shit!" Jack whispered as he, Isaac, and Robert, got down, out of the line of sight of any creature that could be stalking them.

"What the hell was that?" Robert asked.

"Those screams were definitely people, and the roar sounded like a bear." Isaac replied, still watching for any danger.

"That makes sense." Jack agreed.

"You think those people got killed?" Robert asked after about twenty seconds of silence.

"Nah, they probably just wandered into its territory or something and hauled ass when the bear showed up." Jack replied.

"That sounds right." Robert said with a nod. "I mean, that sounded like at least five people. I doubt the bear just fuckin' dropped out of a tree, ripped all their heads off in half a second and then climbed back up." They all had a much-needed laugh at that, calming their nerves a bit.

After that, they agreed on making a detour to find the people they had heard. If they could do that, then they would be able to get help, and more importantly, an explanation.

* * *

><p>After fifteen minutes of straight running, the trio needed to rest. They hadn't heard a single sound since the screaming, and were beginning to doubt if they were going in the right direction. For all they knew, they had accidentally gone in the opposite direction.<p>

"I don't like this." Isaac muttered, tired. "I get the feeling that we're just throwing ourselves deeper and deeper into this damn forest."

"We should've just kept going toward that city…" Jack groaned, equally fatigued.

"Since there isn't any visible path, it would be pointless to try and go back. We just have to keep going." Robert said with determination.

As they took their first few steps forward, it was suddenly pitch black.

"What the hell is going on?!"

"I can't see my hand in front of my goddamn face!"

"Ow, fuck! That was my wing, you dick!"

They silenced when another shriek rang out.

Turning his head to the direction the scream came from, Isaac saw a dim pink light illuminating a section of the forest ahed of him and the others.

"C'mon." He whispered as he walked toward the light, Robert and Jack following.

As they closed the distance to the illuminated area, he heard something. Something a lot like…_Singing? _The trio quickened their pace, adjusting to the darkness. As they got closer they noticed that the singing had stopped, replaced by irritating laughter.

After five minutes or so they finally arrived at the clearing where the people had been, surprised that it was lit up again.

"Shit, we missed them!" Robert hissed.

Looking for anything that might help indicate the direction the people went, Isaac noticed several trails of circular marks.

_Hoof _marks.

FUCK.

"Guys, I've got good news and bad news." Isaac said irately, getting Jack and Robert's attention.

"What is it?" Robert asked.

"The good news is that I picked up a trail. The bad news is that the 'people' are actually horses, just like us." Isaac replied, eliciting groans from his friends.

"Son of a bitch!" Robert growled.

"It's our only lead, so we might as well follow it." Jack pointed out tiredly, getting sick of the bullshit.

"He's right." Isaac agreed, also angry. "If we quit now, the only thing left to do would be to aimlessly wander this potentially dangerous forest with no supplies whatsoever."

And with that, they continued down the trail.

* * *

><p>The last thirty minutes had been rather mundane, save for a small river they had used a log to walk over. After walking and jogging all this time, they had all become irate and frustrated, but had now calmed down a bit since they were so close to their destination.<p>

The trio came to a flimsy rope bridge crossing over a large expanse. On the other side was some kind of temple, made of stone and overgrown with vegetation.

"This bridge looks like it was put back in place recently." Isaac observed, approaching said bridge.

"So they must've come across here…" Robert muttered. "But why? Why would anyone go to a ruin like this?"

"No idea, but this place gives me the creeps." Jack said, walking over the bridge.

"Seems stable enough." Robert remarked, also walking over.

After they all reached the other side,

As the trio neared the structure, they could clearly see a small group of equines, obviously female, standing in front of the main building.

"We _finally _fucking found them..." Isaac said, quickening his pace so he could get this over with.

Taking a look at the group, he observed that two of them had wings like him, one had a horn like Jack, and another two had neither, much like Robert.

Before they could make their presence known, a dark purple light lit up the main structure, dissipating after a few seconds.

"Twilight?" The girls shouted in unison, before running into the building.

"She's gone!" Another voice said.

"What could have made that light?" Isaac asked, "They obviously don't have any equipment, and I doubt that there's an electrical system in that structure…"

"Might as well see what's in there." Robert said.

Sneaking up the main stairs into the temple, they came to the main chamber of the structure. In the middle of the room stood a giant horse, with a flowing black mane, both wings and a horn, and a set of cobalt armor standing on a pedestal. On the opposite side of the room was a purple horse with a horn, who seemed to be confronting the larger equine.

The trio ducked behind a fallen pillar to stay hidden. They watched as the small horse, who they assumed was "Twilight" get into an aggressive stance, looking ready to charge.

"You're kidding." The larger mare laughed. "You're kidding, right?" She said seriously, realizing it wasn't a joke.

Twilight started charging at the dark mare with the tip of her horn glowing with a purple aura.

All three of the former humans exchanged a 'WTF?' look.

Just as soon as the two equines were about to make contact, Twilight disappeared in a flash of light and reappeared on the pedestal the large horse had been on moments before.

"Just one spark, come on, come on!" Twilight grunted, concentrating.

Skidding to a halt, the larger horse spun around and saw her enemy pointing her horn at the five stones on the pedestal.

"No!" She shouted as she charged at Twilight.

"Do you think we should help her?" Robert asked.

_"_Fuck no!" Isaac replied, not wanting to get involved.

"Fuck _you_, we're doing it!" Robert said stubbornly.

_"Why?!"_

"Because that's the only way they'll trust us; if we save one of them!"

Isaac opened his mouth to give a sarcastic remark, but paused.

"Huh. Good point." He said blankly. "Jack, go intercept the armored bitch's course and skewer her with your horn."

"Wait, why the fuck do you want me to-"

"JUST _DO _IT!"

"AH! OKAY!"

Just as the armored horse was upon Twilight, Jack jumped out from behind the pillar, lowered his head as to give his horn maximum stabbing-potential, hauled ass towards the dark equine, and proceeded to bury his horn into her unprotected shoulder, earning a cry of pain from the horse, blood on the floor, and time for Twilight to do whatever the fuck she was doing.

Jack pulled out his now-red horn with a cocky smirk on his face. Just as he was about to make a joke involving deep penetration, an ethereal aura surrounded him and smashed him against the floor before disappearing.

"SONNUVABITCH!" He cried out.

Isaac and Robert had now discarded their cover, and ran towards the pained form of Jack.

"Dude, that was bullshit!" Jack groaned as he scraped himself off the stone floor.

"Jack that was pathetic-"

"OH SHIT, THE ARMORED BITCH!" Robert interrupted.

True to his word, the dark horse was slowly approaching them, a furious snarl escaping her throat and her cat-like eyes shining maliciously.

**"I, Nightmare Moon, shall wipe you from the face of this world!" **She announced in a booming voice that nearly made the former humans piss themselves.

However, before she could enact her revenge, Nightmare's attention returned to Twilight.

"The elements! Look!" She looked over at the sparking stones. However, they suddenly stopped sparking. Twilight looked on in horror.

Then it dawned on her, that there had only been five elements. "But… Where's the sixth element?" She asked, confused.

Nightmare Moon laughed manically, raising her front hooves and bringing them down with a crash, shattering the stones on the pedestal. **"You little foal! Thinking you could defeat me? Now you will never see your princess, or your sun! The night will last forever!"**

Twilight watched, horrified as the shards of the stones landed around Nightmare Moon.

"Don't worry Twilight!" a voice called from the entrance.

"Were here!" another called.

Twilight looked back, she could hear all of them calling out to her…and that made her…happy. Then all at once, it made complete sense.

"You think you can destroy the Elements of Harmony just like that?" Twilight said, very confident all of a sudden. "Well you're wrong!" she said, standing up tall. "Because the spirits of the Elements of Harmony are _right here_!" she shouted as the five other equines lined up beside her. The shards of the Elements of Harmony started to float in the air.

"What?" Nightmare Moon said, panic in her voice.

"Applejack, who reassured me when I was in doubt, represents the spirit of…_honesty!"_ Twilight said as several shards of the stone flew over to said pony her and began orbiting her.

"Fluttershy, who tamed the manticore with her compassion represents the spirit of…_kindness!"_ A surprised Fluttershy was bestowed her own collection of shards orbiting her, just like Applejack.

"Pinkie Pie, who banished fear by giggling in the face of danger represents the spirit of…_laughter!"_ Jumping up and down, the pony in question was thrilled to see shards spinning around her as well.

"Rarity, who calmed a sorrowful serpent with a meaningful gift represents the spirit of…_generosity!"_ The snowy-white unicorn nodded modestly as the shards began circling around her.

"Rainbow Dash, who could not abandon her friends for her own hearts desires represents the spirit of…_loyalty!" _The rainbow-maned pegasus stuck out her chest proudly as the shards began to orbit her, the same as her friends.

"The spirits of these five ponies got us through everything you threw at us!" Twilight announced proudly.

"You don't have the sixth element! The spark didn't work!" Nightmare retorted, her voice panic-stricken.

"But it did!" Twilight countered. "A different kind of spark! I felt it the very moment I realized how happy I was to hear you, see you, how much I cared about you!" She said as her eyes began to fill with tears. "The spark ignited inside me when I realized that you all…are my friends!" She said to the five ponies behind her, paying no attention to the trio.

"What the fuck is this bullshit?" Isaac asked, he and his friends just watching in complete confusion.

"You see, Nightmare Moon, when those elements are ignited by the…uh…spark! That resides in the hearts of us all, it creates the sixth element; the element of…_magic!"_

All at once, the shards came together to form necklaces, each with its own distinctive gem in the middle:

The Yellow pony with the pink mane had a necklace with a pink butterfly jewel in it.

The Pink pony got a blue balloon shaped jewel in her necklace.

The Rainbow pony got a red lightning bolt in the center of hers.

The Orange pony with the blonde mane got an orange apple jewel in the center of hers.

And the white pony with the purple colored hair got a purple gem in the shape of a diamond.

Finally, the stone hovering over Twilight morphed into a crown with a purple six-pointed star almost identical to the one on her flank. Closing her eyes, the six ponies rose into the air, surrounding Nightmare and radiating a white light. Then she opened her eyes to reveal a glowing abyss in each socket. The three former humans watched as they fired a gigantic rainbow beam at the dark equine. The blast was so intense that they were blown back slightly.

However, as the smoke cleared, it was revealed that no effects had been made at all.

"That was...comically anticlimactic." Isaac said as the six idiot ponies gasped in horror.

"B-but this is impossible!" Twilight stammered, slowly backing away from Nightmare Moon. "The Elements should have worked! They _have_ to!"

Nightmare Moon grinned sadistically as she slowly approached them, revealing a row of glistening fangs. Her horn was glowing with an ethereal aura, obviously ready to strike them down.

**"Foolish ponies. You are now defeated, and shall be the base on which I build my road to achieving eternal darkness and victory."** Nightmare chuckled sinisterly, her horn charging up further.** "This whole world and its light shall be blotted out by an ever-growing tide of shadow and sorrow. Its inhabitants will bow to my every whim, only to slowly and agonizingly perish as their crops fail. You will**_** all **_**finally recognize me as the deity I _AM_**!"

Twilight and the other idiot ponies all huddled up in a pathetic little mass of futility as Nightmare Moon completed in charging her attack, while the former humans prepared to run the fuck away.

_**"DIE!" **_Nightmare cackled, the magic discharging into a beam of dark plasma.

Just as the beam began to launch itself at the nine ponies, time froze to a halt.

Froze to a half for all but the three individuals; Isaac, Jackson, and Robert.

Before they could speak, a voice rang out in their heads.

It was a deep, raspy, metallic voice that was almost _alien _in nature. The words it spoke seemingly transcending the auditory sensors that detected it.

It spoke to the former humans of things they had never heard of before; of knowledge they would have had no hope of obtaining anywhere else.

To Isaac, it spoke of science; machines, weapons, technology, and of an element, that when used in conjunction with these new technologies, would literally _bend _the mechanics of the sciences that allowed for their existence in the first place.

To Jackson, it spoke of a force that existed in this world alone; a force that he could learn to harness and bend to his will. This was a force that could control nature and make it do his bidding.

To Robert, it spoke of something he could not even begin to fathom; something that required the amplification of the mind that he was not even close to being capable of.

To all three of them, it spoke of a new reality, and of a plan.

The _ultimate_ plan.

After the voices subsided, time began to resume ticking, and the trio felt a certain _shift _in everything around them. They had no idea as to what this shift was, but somehow knew that it had resulted in Nightmare Moon once again being vulnerable to the Elements of Harmony.

Said elements began to glow, and suddenly erected some kind of glowing domed-shield, protecting the idiot ponies from Nightmare Moon's energy attack.

Nightmare's reaction was immediate.

"W-what?" She stammered._ "How is this possible?!"_

Twilight and the other idiot ponies realized that the Elements of Harmony were working again, and without a second thought, once again engulfed the area in a blinding multicolored light, Nightmare Moon's cries of defeat already ringing throughout the temple.

Unlike last time, the former humans immediately felt the beam's power flow through them, sapping them of their energy and leaving them completely and utterly exhausted.

Isaac, Jackson, and Robert all collapsed, unconscious.

* * *

><p>Isaac stirred.<p>

He silently pleaded to whatever sick, sadistic, douchebag entity that oversaw the universe that he would open his eyes to find himself back in his room in Arlington, and that the events of the past two days had just been a long, elaborate nightmare of the highest degree.

He slowly opened his eyes.

_Go fuck yourself, universe._

As expected, Isaac found himself in the same animated hellhole in which he and his ponified friends had somehow assisted in the defeat of some kind of dark horse.

Looking around, he saw that he was in some kind of room made completely out of wood. There were bookshelves lining the walls, leading him to the conclusion that he was in some kind of library, which was actually pretty convenient; he would be able to gather some knowledge after he found his friends and interrogated the idiot ponies. The clock on the wall read 2:34 PM.

Practically seething in frustration with the asinine events that had almost succeeded in fucking-up everything he thought he knew about the world, Isaac clumsily climbed off of the bed he had slept on and headed for the stairs that led to the lower floor. Just as he was about to descend, he noticed a piece of parchment taped to the wall.

_Dear Isaac,_

_I have already explained what happened last night to Jackson and Robert._

_They have come with me to see Princess Celestia so that they could tell her who you three are, and why you are here._

_Please meet us by the Ponyville Town Hall._

_-Twilight Sparkle_

Isaac snorted at the town's name. _Ponyville? _How fucking original.

Wanting to get this over with, he stomped downstairs and opened the front door, the warm sunlight engulfing him.

Isaac was mildly happy to see sunlight again; it had felt like eons since he had last seen it, and he had almost forgotten how pleasant it could be. However, this still did little to quell his foul mood.

Looking around, Isaac saw that 'Ponyville' was a semi-rural town with various small cottages, buildings, and no infrastructure to speak of. Walking through the town were dozens of ponies, all dancing, eating, and having a good time. They were all colored so damn brightly that the mish-mash of colors was beginning to strain his eyes.

Thankfully, they paid little attention to him; the occasional resident regarding his permanent scowl with a look of slight confusion.

Not two seconds after leaving the library, Isaac caught a glimpse of something pink in the corner of his eye and something slammed into his side, knocking him over. He cried in agony as a sharp rock was jammed in-between two of his ribs, sending a jolt of pain through his body.

"Ow...fucking..._son of a bitch!" _He cursed loudly, attempting to stand back up.

"Oh gosh, I'm so sorry! I didn't see you there because I was in the middle of a delivery and I didn't want to be late for the party and-" The pony who had slammed into him began babbling in an annoyingly high-pitched voice, talking a mile a minute.

Isaac looked up to see a bright pink pony with an impossibly frizzy dark pink mane and blue eyes that contained pure excitement and energy. The moment she saw him, the pink pony let out a ridiculously over-exaggerated gasp seconds before a massive toothy grin crossed her face.

"WOW, I've never seen you before, which means you're new in town! I can tell because I know _everypony! _Wait, if you're new then you must not have any friends, which means-"

"For the love of all that is holy, _shut the fuck up!" _Isaac snapped furiously, his sudden interruption causing the pink pony to abruptly silence. "CAN YOU GET SOME FUCKING PERSPECTIVE?! INSTEAD OF RANTING ABOUT SOME INANE BULLSHIT I COULDN'T CARE LESS ABOUT, SHOULDN'T YOU BE WORRIED ABOUT THE GODDAMN ROCK YOU JAMMED INTO MY FUCKING RIBCAGE?!" Isaac's voice escalated into a full-fledged shout in the course of several seconds.

The pink pony looked at him with a distraught expression. "I-I'm sorry, I didn't know that-" Not wanting to hear another word of her hemorrhage-inducing voice, Isaac simply pushed his way past her.

"Just get the fuck out of my way." He growled, walking away from her and towards the Town Hall. He noticed the stares from the other ponies immediately shifting from confusion to shock and anger.

* * *

><p>A couple of minutes later, Isaac was beginning to think that he may have yelled at somebody important; almost all of the gazes he got from other ponies were those of utter contempt.<p>

"It's not like it'll matter..." He muttered under his breath.

As Isaac walked through the town, he couldn't help but notice the difference in males to females. For every one colt he saw, there were eight mares. And while a ratio like this may not have been the strangest thing he had seen in this world, he nevertheless decided it was relevant enough to warrant future questioning. Also, he had noised that almost all of the ponies had odd images seemingly tattooed to their sides, pictures of clocks, flowers, hammers and other such images everywhere. The only ponies who lacked them were him, Robert, Jack, and foals.

Two minutes later he reached the town hall, and his mood increased as he saw Robert and Jack standing by the front door with Twilight. He quickened his pace and was soon right by them.

"Hey, guys!" He said, grabbing their attention.

"Where the hell've you been?" Jack asked, who appeared to be the calmest of the three former humans; Robert seemed to be a bit on edge.

"I woke up at the library a few minutes ago and saw the note." Isaac replied.

"The one that Twilight Cullen left?" Jack said. Isaac and Robert couldn't help but smirk at that. But when they saw Twilight's confused face, they remembered that nobody here would understand any references from Earth. What a shame.

"Yeah, that..." Isaac muttered before turning to Twilight. "Let's skip any pleasantries you might have in mind and get straight to business: I have questions that I want fucking answered; all of them regarding _where_ the hell we are, _what_ the fuck happened last night, and _why _my compatriots and I are here." Twilight winced slightly at the former human's language, but was caught off guard by what he seemed to be implying.

"Wait, you aren't from here?" Twilight asked.

"No _shit._" Isaac deadpanned.

"But you're ponies!" Twilight protested. "How could you not-"

"It doesn't matter!" Isaac snapped. "Could you just answer the fucking questions?"

"Well..." Twilight said, trailing off. "I'm not sure about the third one, but I can answer your first two. You are all currently in Equestria, a prosperous country ruled by Princess Celestia and her now-returned sister, Princess Luna."

"Wait, what the hell do you mean by 'now-returned?" Isaac asked.

Just as Twilight was about to reply, Jack interjected.

"You remember the armored bitch we fought?" He asked.

"Yeah, what about her?" Isaac replied, not sure why she was relevant.

"Turns out that after Twilight and those other chicks shot her with that rainbow laser and shit, she turned into Luna." Jack explained eloquently.

"A millennium ago, Princess Luna was corrupted and threatened to bring eternal night to Equestria, but was banished to the moon until last night on the Summer Sun Celebration, where she broke free and sought to resume her plan." Twilight elaborated. "My friends and I searched for and found a collection of magical artifacts called the Elements of Harmony in those ruins in the Everfree forest, where we used the power of the Elements to purge her evil side and turn her back into her original form."

Isaac was glad to finally have something explained, and thus neglected to address the further questions her surprisingly clear-cut explanation had raised.

"Huh." He said in a fairly blank tone. "I reluctantly thank you for your explanation, but there's still the issue of having my other questions answered."

"Well, since Princess Celestia wanted to ask you questions of her own anyway, you could ask her." Twilight replied, happy at the thought of her mentor settling the confusion.

The former humans exchanged mixed looks.

"Alright then." Isaac finally said. "Take us to you your leader."

* * *

><p>"Princess Celestia!"<p>

The former humans looked up to see a regal-looking white mare, about the size Nightmare Moon had been. Strangely enough, her multicolored mane and tail appeared to flow in a nonexistent breeze. She had been in a heartfelt discussion with several of her subjects, but the sight of her student and the three new arrivals caused her to excuse herself from the conversation and focus on the approaching ponies.

"I see our guests have awakened." Princess Celestia said to Twilight. Turning to the former humans, she smiled. "Thank you for what you did for Twilight. It sounds like you showed up right in the nick of time, and saved the day."

"We were just doing the right thing." Isaac said in an uncharacteristically civil and modest tone. "Keeping your subjects out of harm's way was our number one priority."

Nobody, save Jack and Robert knew that Isaac was talking complete bullshit. However, they went along with it for the sole purpose of making a good first impression in this vital first contact situation.

"But pleasantries aside, my compatriots and I have several important questions that we feel obligated to have answered." Isaac continued in a much more straightforward manner, a bit of his inner frustration leaking into his speech.

Celestia regarded him with an intrigued expression.

"You three have raised several questions yourselves, and I presume only you can answer them." She said with a warm smile. "How about we both ask our respective questions and answer them to the best of our ability?"

The former humans nodded in agreement, liking the proposition.

"You wouldn't mind if I went first, right?"

"Fuckin' go for it."

* * *

><p>In the course of the last ten minutes or so, Isaac had given a comprehensive synopsis of what had happened when he, Jack, and Robert had entered Equestria. After briefly mentioning the machine in the forest, he explained their transformation, their discovery of the mountain city (which turned out to be named Canterlot), their trek through the Everfree forest, and the battle with Nightmare Moon, with Robert and Jack adding things in every now and then.<p>

In his explanation, Isaac had managed to be both informative and vague, not giving much specific information about the Human species and their civilization, but enough to satisfy the curiosity of the crowd of ponies that had gathered throughout the course of his speech. In fact, he completely neglected to mention the events that had taken place on Earth, as well as the strange events that had transpired in his and the other former humans' heads during the battle with Nightmare.

After he finished, Isaac and sighed and looked into the crowd, both irritated and expectant of some kind of response other than the plethora of murmuring that reverberated throughout the mass of equines. Robert and Jack simply looked at Celestia, as if to say 'You gonna say something or what?'

"I see…" Celestia said, breaking the silence.

"You think we're asylum escapees or some shit, don't you?" Jack said tiredly.

"No. I don't." Celestia began. "I knew something was different about you three the first time I saw you. This simply confirms my suspicions."

"So, can you help us get back home?" Robert asked.

"As a matter of fact, I can." She replied.

This got an immediate reaction from the former humans, all of them perking up and giving probably their first smiles since arriving in Equestria.

"Fuckin' A!" Jack said with a wide grin.

"How exactly are you going to help?" Isaac asked skeptically.

"There is a special type of teleportation spell that will allow the user to instantly transport themselves and other entities to virtually any existing location," Celestia explained.

The trio was surprised at the sheer convenience of said spell.

"Well, what the hell are you waiting for?" Robert asked excitedly. "Beam us up!"

"Unfortunately, it isn't that simple." Celestia said, slightly more serious. "This type of spell can only be used by unicorns that possess memories of the place they are attempting to travel to, and because of that I am unable to transport you home."

"Well, Jack's a unicorn." Isaac pointed out. "Couldn't you just tell _him _how to use the spell?"

"It won't be that easy." Celestia said. "Performing a spell like that takes a lot of practice."

"I've been training for years, and I can only just perform a spell THAT powerful." Twilight piped in.

All hope the trio had was at that moment beaten into the ground and castrated with razor wire.

_"Son of a fucking cunt..." _Isaac breathed as a lifetime's supply of suppressed inner rage began to boil.

"Eh, whatever."

Jack's casual statement brought Isaac and the equally-furious Robert back into reality.

"What?" Robert asked blankly.

"I mean, it's not like we have anything to do," Jack replied simply with a shrug. "And besides, it might be a good idea to lay low for a while after...y'know..."

Isaac stopped whatever snarky comment he was about to utter and realized that Jack had a point. If they returned to Earth now, it would be as if nothing had happened at all, and the end result would be the same.

Death.

"So, I guess somebody is going to be teaching him?" Isaac asked in a voice that was comparatively calm to his former mood.

"That is correct." Celestia smiled. "And I couldn't think of a better pony to do it, right Twilight?"

Said pony's jaw dropped in absolute surprise, only to be replaced with a smile of pure glee.

_"YES!" _She cheered joyfully, prancing around in a circle. "I get my very own student that I can assign copious amounts of homework to and study magical theory with, and discuss the magic of friendship, and read encyclopedias, and-" Twilight continued to babble on and on about the various, distinct study and organization methods she would teach Jack, only to begin going off on a tangent concerning the base energy output of synchronized mana particles.

Jack regarded Twilight's exited ramblings with a flabbergasted expression, not sure how to react to the purple unicorn's sudden personality shift.

"Hey Jack, guess what?" Isaac said with a wide smirk.

"...What?" Jack replied.

"Welcome back to school."

Jack's pupils dilated to the size of pinpricks.

_"FUCK!"_

"Dude, chill ou-"

_"NO!"_

"Just calm-"

_"FUCK YOU!"_

* * *

><p>An hour or so had passed since Princess Celestia had assigned Twilight with the task of teaching Jack magic, and since then, the princess had explained to the former humans that they would need to spend the night at the library before getting their own apartments tomorrow. After giving this information, she left for Canterlot with Princess Luna for the purpose of helping the Night Princess ease back into society.<p>

Since then, the trio had been hanging out in the background of the party, not making any substantial interactions due to the fact of Twilight being the only pony they actually knew.

Speaking of Twilight, she was nowhere to be seen.

Just as they were ready to go out and look for her, Isaac managed to overhear a couple of ponies mention Twilight and a handful of others hosting some kind of after-party inside the local bakery, apparently named 'Sugarcube Corner'.

Since it was their only lead, the former humans found the bakery's location and set off towards it.

After a few minutes they found the bakery, taking note of it's strange exterior as they approached.

The bottom of the house looked normal, but the roof looked like it was made of gingerbread that had been decorated with icing and candies. The house even had the very top level decorated like a giant cupcake with candles in it. All in all, it looked like something straight out a fairytale, fitting in with Ponyville's general theme.

Noticing the commotion that came from upstairs, they entered the building, taking note of the various baked goods behind the counter. Their eyes centered on a slightly tired-looking Twilight that had just come down the stairs.

"Oh, hey guys!" Twilight said cheerfully. "Everypony else is upstairs, so c'mon and join us!"

"Sure." Isaac and the others murmured, doing the pony equivalent of a shrug.

Following her up the stairs, they entered a large circular room directly above the shop, filled with balloons, cake, punch, and five ponies.

The former humans recognized them as the idiot ponies from the Nightmare Moon battle, but one of the ponies in the room was more...familiar to one of them, specifically Isaac.

In the middle of the room stood the pink, hyperactive pony that he had yelled at in the middle of town several hours ago.

Isaac froze as she made eye contact with him, all traces of happiness immediately vanished from her face, only to be replaced with pure sorrow. Oddly enough, her poofy mane and tale appeared to 'deflate', fitting perfectly with her now-sad demeanor.

He was about to open his mouth and attempt to bullshit his way out of this situation when a multicolored blur slammed into his torso with enough force to knock him off his hooves completely. Isaac and whatever had hit him tumbled down the hard stairs, his head, limbs and back painfully crashing into multiple steps before a hoof hit him in the chin and he was slammed down on the creaky floorboards.

Confused and in pain, Isaac clumsily stood up and was met with the sight of a cyan pegasus with a scruffy, rainbow-colored mane and tail, a cloud with a multicolored lightning bolt for a butt tattoo, and angry pink eyes that bored into him like a pair of electric drills.

"What the _fuck _is your problem?!" Isaac snapped viciously.

_"MY _problem?!" The pegasus replied, equally furious. "I'm not the one who picks on and hurts good ponies for no reason!"

Normally, Isaac would criticize himself for not foreseeing the obvious backlash of his actions back by the library, but at this point, anything and everything meant jack shit to him; all of the asinine bullshit that had happened within the past couple days, the blatant violations of reality that reared their ugly heads every five minutes in the form of 'magic', and the stupid, equine citizens that he now hated with a passion had caused the near-infinite well of suppressed anger that had accumulated within him to build up, and at this point he didn't care about it.

_'Hey buddy, it's cool now. You can let loose.' _A little voice in the back of his voice seemed to say.

Adrenaline shooting through his veins and his expression one of pure visceral animosity, Isaac bolted towards the rainbow pegasus with the intent of bashing her skull into the fucking ground.

The rainbow pegasus tensed up, anticipating his charge and preparing a counterattack. However, just as Isaac was about to tackle her and try to snap her neck, a purple aura surrounded him and stopped him dead in his tracks.

"Stop it, both of you!" Twilight yelled as she and the other ponies rushed downstairs, looks of concern and anger on their faces. Twilight however, wore a mask of sternness.

"Dude, you got fucking owned!" Jack exclaimed with a sideways grin, no sign of concern in his tone or expression.

"Shut up!" Robert hissed, confused as to what was going on.

"_LET ME GO, YOU LITTLE SHIT!" _Isaac roared as he attempted to break out of Twilight's grip in an act of anger-fueled futility.

"Not until you calm down and help explain what this is all about!"

"_I _can explain." The rainbow pegasus deadpanned, drawing everyone's attention. "Pinkie told me about some angry jerk that yelled at her and pushed her for no reason after she just tried to make friends, and judging by her reaction to you, _you're _him! Right Pinkie?"

Pinkie nodded slowly.

"W-why were you so mean to me?" Pinkie asked in a near-whisper, her eyes never leaving Isaac's.

Having calmed down a bit for the purpose of escaping this situation alive, Isaac quickly tried to think of a way to talk his way out of this, but his mind remained blank.

Seeing that he had calmed down, Twilight released him from her telekinetic grip and waited for his response, as did everyone else.

"I...had a migraine?" Isaac blurted out.

Immediately, Pinkie's mane and tail returned to their normal poofy fashion as her exuberant and happy personality came back into full swing.

_"Okie-dokie-lokie!" _Pinkie replied happily, a wide grin on her face, a stark contrast to the shocked and irritated expressions of pretty much everyone else.

"...Really?" Isaac whispered, his right eye twitching and a dangerous edge to his voice. "That _actually _FUCKING _WORKED?!"_

"What worked?" Pinkie asked innocently.

Isaac paused for a few seconds before his eyes widened and his anger rushed back with a vengeance.

"What do _you FUCKING THINK!?" _He shouted. "GOOD FUCKING _LORD, _YOU ARE THE BIGGEST FUCKING WORTHLESS PIECE OF SUB-SENTIENT STUPID _SHIT _I HAVE EVER HAD THE DISPLEASURE OF HAVING TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE _GODDAMN EXISTENCE OF!"_

"Hey Isaac, I think your insults are getting kind of personal..." Robert said, slightly nervous.

_"GOOD!" _Isaac snapped. "I'M _MAKING _THIS PERSONAL!"

_"Look!" _Twilight said, her patience wearing thin. "You're just saying these things because you're angry and you-"

"Oh no, I mean _everything _I'm saying." Isaac interrupted sardonically. "I _sincerely _hate the both of you. In _fact, _I hate _ALL _of you! I hate _you, _I hate your _faces, _I hate the women who gave _birth _to you, I HATE THE _FACES _OF THE WOMEN WHO GAVE BIRTH TO YOU!" Isaac's voice tripled in volume. "I HATE YOU ALL SO MUCH, I HOPE YOU EXPLODE AND GET RAPED _SIMULTANEOUSLY; _I HOPE YOU GET RAPED BY A FUCKING _EXPLOSION!_ I DON'T KNOW HOW THE FUCK THAT WOULD WORK, BUT I WISH IT UPON YOU!"

"Isaac, shut your _fucking mouth!" _Robert growled, seemingly fed up with his friend.

Isaac however, ignored him completely and continued his profane rant.

"FUCK _YOU, _FUCK YOUR USELESS SPECIES, FUCK YOUR_ JOKE _OF A COUNTRY, FUCK YOUR STUPID _MAGIC, _AND MOST OF ALL, FUCK _EVERYONE HERE!" _Isaac roared, fueled by raw contempt. _"I AM SO SICK AND TIRED OF ALL THIS SHIT!"  
><em>

Isaac breathed slowly, glaring at the petrified equines in front of him with murder in his eyes. He wordlessly stomped out the front door, heading off into nighttime Ponyville. An equally furious Rainbow Dash flew out through an open window, her tolerance for social interaction all but expended.

Robert sighed heavily, wishing Isaac could've gone ten minutes without getting on somebody's shit list.

"I'm so sorry." He said tiredly, attracting the other ponies' attention.

"Sorry for what?" Twilight asked.

"I wish I could've helped the situation, but I just stood there like a dumbass and waited for Isaac to get done blasting you guys..." Robert replied, still feeling a bit frustrated.

"He can be kind of a dick." Jack added bluntly. "But seriously; he was probably just blowing off steam and shit, so don't take anything he says personally."

"Yeah..." Robert agreed uncertainly, glancing around. "A-anyway, he'll probably be a lot less pissy when he's had time to think stuff through and relax."

The other ponies seemed to agree, and the party's happy atmosphere began to make a comeback.

"What about that Rainbow chick?" Jack asked offhandedly.

"She'll come around after a good night's sleep." Twilight replied. "Speaking of sleep, I'd image you'd want to get some yourselves after everything that's happened, especially with your magic lesson tomorrow."

Jack and Robert exchanged a look.

"Nah, we'll just stick around for a while." Jack replied with an off smile.

* * *

><p>Isaac trudged through the nearly empty town, inhaling the cool night air. He was headed towards the library.<p>

Isaac regarded the events that had taken place only minutes ago with mixed feelings. On one hand, he chastised himself for making such a poor first impression on the apparently-significant ponies, but on the other hand, he relished the pure catharsis that his fit of rage had brought, giving him a feeling of emotional liberty. However, both of these stances were insignificant to his third position on what had happened; the position of pure apathy. As of now, he was tired, irritated, and in need of isolation.

As he neared the library, Isaac noticed that the lights were still on, which struck him as odd. Nevertheless, he entered the building.

"Anyone here?" He called out tiredly.

As expected, no response. Nevertheless, he closed the door and took a deep breath.

Isaac hated this place, hated its inhabitants, and hated the fact that he was stuck here for what could possibly amount to years. It might have been a haven from the authorities that had been hunting him and his friends down back on Earth, but at the moment he would have preferred being shot to death instead of being forced to exist in a world he knew nothing about; a world that completely defied logic and seemed to bend the same mechanics of science that he had previously versed himself with.

Suddenly, all his thoughts ceased and refocused on a forgotten point.

Isaac heard the voice; the same otherworldly voice that had him and the other former humans revelations nearly beyond their understanding. Isaac was reminded of the machines; reminded of the science. At that moment, Isaac formulated a plan.

The _ultimate _plan.

His former perspective reinstated, Isaac went through the library and collected various Encyclopedias encompassing subjects such as Equestrian history, politics, customs, military, ecology, scientific advancement, and magical theory.

If his plan was to be implemented correctly, he would first have to arm himself with as much knowledge as possible. Once that was done, he would be able to take the first step.

* * *

><p>Several hours had passed, and everypony had headed home from Pinkie's party. Thankfully, Jackson and Robert had been a bit more emotionally stable than Isaac during the party, allowing Twilight and her friends to have a good time.<p>

As she walked around Ponyville in a search for her assistant Spike, Twilight contemplated just what to make of the three newcomers.

Isaac had at first appeared to be a snarky but generally rational and competent individual, albeit with a tendency to curse frequently, a trait shared with Jackson and Robert. However, after the heated transgression at Sugarcube corner she realized that he was in fact a fairly unpredictable pony, as evidenced by his sudden outburst of anger and aggression. She hoped that particular situation would be a one-time thing and that the gray pegasus would be calmer in the morning and more willing to cooperate.

Jackson appeared to have a much more lenient attitude, willing to interact more frequently with other ponies, although he and Robert would get into minor arguments, trading harsh insults all the while. She definitely looked forward to teaching him magical theory, but because of several lewd statements he had made during the party, she decided it would be best to keep a fair distance.

Robert definitely appeared to the most normal of the three, and definitely the most likable; he had so far been kind to her friends and seemed to be a very genuine pony. Despite this, Twilight had noticed that throughout the majority of the party, there was something off about him: He would frequently glance out the window and look around, almost as if he were expecting something to happen, would appear to be intently listening to a nonexistent pony talk, and just seemed to constantly be on edge. In all honesty, she didn't really know what to make of him and the other two.

That didn't keep her from fearing what the future might bring with them around.

* * *

><p><strong>Prologue: END<strong>

**As some of you may know, this story will serve both as a rewriting and re-imagining of my previous and amateurish story, 'My Little Pony Friendship is Magic: Elements of Reality'.**

**Seeing as today is the 2nd year anniversary for the story, I decided to release this new story as an experiment of sorts for the purpose of deciding whether or not to continue with it. Because of this, I may or may not post more chapters, and if I do, I will upload at my own pace.**

**So, readers new and old, please comment, review, and give your earnest feedback.**


	2. Petty Bounty

Chapter 1: Petty Bounty

/

Isaac slowly opened his eyes and became aware of his surroundings. Realizing that he was still in Equestria, he grunted and stood up. Based on where he had just woken up, Isaac concluded that he had fallen asleep while gathering information; this was supported by the fact that he had woken up with his head buried in an Equestrian history textbook.

Looking at a clock on the wall, he realized that it 7:47 in the morning and that he seemed to be the only one awake. Remembering the fact that he, Robert and Jack were to receive their apartment today, and that since today happened to be the date of Jack's first magic lesson, he and Robert would procure their new residence.

"Hey, what's up?"

Isaac immediately spun around, not at all expecting anybody else to be awake. Even stranger was the fact that he seemed to be the only person in the room.

"_What the fuck…?"_ Isaac muttered under his breath as he looked around.

"Ahem. Down here, buddy," The voice said. Isaac looked down, and to his shock, there stood a short, purple lizard-thing staring up at him with an unsure look on his face.

"_There_ we go," The lizard said, a smug grin on its face.

"Who the hell are _you?" _Isaac asked, resisting the urge to just punt the little fucker into the wall and be on his way.

"I'm Spike, Twilight's dragon assistant!" The little fucker replied happily.

'_Okay, so not a big lizard, but a tiny dragon. Because those apparently exist too…fuck this world.' _Isaac thought.

"So, I'm guessing you're one of the guys from that other world, or whatever it was?" Spike continued.

"Pretty much," Isaac replied, clearly not interested in conversation.

"So, why are you up so early anyway?" Spike asked.

"None of your goddamn business…" Isaac grunted. With that, he headed upstairs to wake Robert.

/

Robert and Isaac wordlessly walked through the streets of Ponyville, heading towards the apartment building in which they would receive their residence. The town had quieted down considerably since last night, with the news of Isaac's outburst all but forgotten by the populous.

"So…" Robert mumbled, attempting to break the ice. "You have a plan for gettin' us past the stage of living in a shitty apartment with no cash?"

Isaac thought for a few seconds before responding.

"I've got a plan," He replied with a nod. "I'll put the information I received during the fight to good use and build some weapon prototypes for the military."

"I heard that they haven't even discovered gunpowder here," Robert said, so far agreeing with the plan; Equestria's current military was centuries behind in technology, and with the constant guarding of the northern border against monsters, they would most likely jump on the chance to have more advanced weapons for the purpose of protecting the country more efficiently.

"Yeah…" Isaac muttered. "Even though they've already built fuckin' steam locomotives. Anyway, we'll hopefully get ourselves a contract to keep designing weapons for the military, which'll give us enough funds to get a better residence and more importantly, better equipment. The problem is going to be getting the initial amount of money necessary for constructing a weapon prototype of the type I'm thinking of."

"Ballistic weapon?" Robert asked.

"That's right," Isaac replied.

"Chemically propelled?"

"Yup."

"Mass-murder with the press of a button?"

Isaac nodded, a smirk on his face.

/

Despite his trepidation, Jack had found his introductory magic lesson somewhat interesting. Twilight had given him crash courses in magic-related concepts such as magical reservoirs (a unicorn's well of energy that they could draw power from in order to perform magic), mana particles (the magic-carrying particle that operates mostly on the quantum level), and how different formations of mana particles could yield different results on the macroscopic level. It was a far cry from Jack's previous vision of magic, with it being some kind of ridiculous, reality-bending bullshit that would probably piss Isaac off. Even though Jack was no physics expert, he was able to absorb most of the information due to it being pretty basic stuff.

"I think that will be enough for today," Twilight said, setting down her quill. The chart she'd been using was completely covered with small diagrams and charts. Thankfully she had accommodated Jack's preference to visual learning, or else he would have probably fallen asleep by now. "How are you doing? Do you understand all this."

"Eh, more or less," Jack replied, his attention span mostly used up. "Am I free to go now? Because I wanna go and check if Isaac and Robert got the apartment and shit."

Just as Twilight was about to give her response, her and Jack's attention was immediate directed towards Spike, who was clenching his stomach and looked as if he were about to projectile vomit.

"Hey Spike…You okay?" Jack asked, not really sure what was going on, and slightly unnerved by Twilight's fairly indifferent expression.

Almost as if on cue, the front door opened.

"Hey, what's going-_wait, what the fuck?!" _

Robert and Isaac stood by the front door with the papers for their apartment and confused expressions on their faces.

"Is he supposed to be doing that?" Robert asked, not exactly sure what to make of the scene. Isaac remained silent, somewhat amused by Spike's apparent agony, and waiting to see how it would all unfold.

After one final gag, Spike reared his scaly head back and burped out a torrent of emerald flame, a sealed roll of parchment coming out with it. Spike coughed before nonchalantly picking up the scroll. "Jeez, that could've come out easier…"

Three pairs of eyes immediately looked unto Twilight.

"Twilight?" Robert asked.

"Yes…?" Twilight asked with slight trepidation.

"What the hell was that?"

Twilight's expression immediately lightened. "Oh, that!" She chuckled. "Well, my assistant Spike here has the ability to use his dragon fire for the purpose of magically transporting objects over infinitely large distances!"

"Duh." Spike said, rolling his eyes and scoffing at how the former humans couldn't understand something so blatantly obvious.

"Don't lie to me, you piece of-"

"-What's the scroll say?" Robert interjected quickly, cutting off Isaac.

Spike opened the scroll and started reading it out loud. "Hear ye, hear ye, Her Grand Royal Highness Princess Celestia of Equestria, is pleased to announce The Grand Galloping Gala to be held in the magnificent capital city of Canterlot, on the 21st day of, uh, blah blah" He said skipping over the little details. "Cordially extends an invitation to Twilight Sparkle plus on guest!" Spike took the two tickets from the page, and put them on the table.

"The Grand Galloping Gala!" Twilight said excitedly.

"What the hell is-" Isaac stopped himself after realizing something. "Wait, why do I even give a fuck?"

"Sounds lame," Was Jack's reply; it didn't strike him as the type of event that would feature heavy drinking and gambling.

Robert contemplated playing the Devil's Advocate before deciding on the position of apathy.

"Let's just go to the apartment," Isaac suggested, having already forgotten about Twilight and her inane ramblings centering around the Gala.

And with that, the equine douchebags swiftly left the library, leaving a miffed Twilight and bored Spike.

/

For the past twenty minutes or so, the former humans had been preoccupied with arranging the preexisting furniture in the apartment to the optimal arrangement before being interrupted by frantic knocking emanating from the door.

Isaac's head snapped in the direction of the door, and hastily approached it with an annoyed grunt with Robert and Jack following suite.

"What the hell do you want?" Isaac said angrily as he opened the door, revealing a concerned and out-of-breath Spike.

Spike proceeded to go on a fast, frantic rant on how Twilight was doing something stupid, and that other ponies were arguing about something. Isaac promptly smacked Spike upside the head mid-rant.

"Use your fucking words," he deadpanned. Spike, although taken aback slightly, nodded and took a deep breath before continuing.

"Twilight couldn't decide who to give the extra ticket to, so she asked her friends why they would want to go to the Gala, and now everyone knows about her ticket, and now everyone's stalking her and trying to bribe her for the ticket," Spike inhaled deeply, "And _now _everyone's arguing with each other and it's really annoying!"

The former humans exchanged confused glances. "What's your point?" Isaac asked.

"My point is that she needs your guys' help!" Spike replied, dramatically throwing his arms up.

"Fuck no!" Isaac replied, having no intention of ever helping Twilight again.

"What if I paid each of you twenty bits?"

The demeanor of the former humans took a complete 180, with pure determination engraved in their facial expressions.

"Where are they?"

/

"Why the hell did you let Spike leave us?"

The three douchebags trotted down one of Ponyville's primary roads, attempting to find the location of the six idiot ponies. This task was made exponentially more difficult due to the fact that Spike had run off on a self-described 'errand' as soon as they left the apartment building.

"I didn't, dipshit," Isaac retorted. "If what you told me about Spike only being here for less than two days is true, why would anyone assume that he'd know the layout of this place better than us?"

The former humans stopped in their tracks as they prepared to partake in the activity that had consumed the vast majority of their life; standing around and going off on huge tangents while simultaneously arguing with each other over trivial things.

While Isaac and Jack flung profanity-laced logical arguments at each other, Robert caught something in the corner of his eye.

"Is that Big Macintosh?"

Isaac and Jack immediately turned to face him.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Jack asked, Isaac's perplexed expression leaving no words to be said.

Robert pointed to a large red pony walking down the middle of the road. "He's the brother of one of the ponies from the party, so he might know where she and the others are."

Isaac nodded and cleared his throat, "Hey, Macintosh! Over here!"

This got the stoic horse's attention immediately, and he walked over to them.

"Hey, do you know where we-" Isaac was cut off by a loud rumbling sound and panicked cries of several ponies.

They looked over at the road only to be met with the sight of a large wagon filled with an indiscernible cargo racing down the slanted dirt road, the ponies in the street quickly getting out of the way.

They were surprised; due to the relatively low amount of noise the cart had made prior to barreling down this particular street, Macintosh would have most likely neglected to hear it and possibly have been hit by the speeding cart if Isaac hadn't gotten his attention, which had caused him to move off to the side of the road.

Expecting some kind of reaction, the trio was slightly confused at the sight of Macintosh's stoic expression, but dismissed it quickly.

Isaac turned to Macintosh and cleared his throat. "You know where your sister and her friends are?"

Giving no verbal response, Macintosh simply gestured towards the area that the downhill road led. Upon closer inspection, one could see and hear small crowd of ponies arguing. Seeing that the trio noticed them too, Macintosh continued down his path, giving the impression that nothing had transpired at all.

"Well, at least he's not fuckin' annoying like everyone else here," Jack remarked.

With that, they ran towards the small mob.

/

As Twilight clenched her ears in a futile attempt to drown out the sound of intense argumentation that surrounded her, an unfortunately familiar voice came right out of the blue.

"FOR GOD'S SAKE, _SHUT UP!_"

The bickering between friends over a ticket was stopped dead in its tracks with the sudden interruption. The six ponies turned to be met with the sight of the three certain individuals, their expressions automatically becoming those of restrained contempt, save for Rainbow Dash, whom let her animosity towards one of the individuals be read loud and clear.

"What the hay do _you _want?" Rainbow Dash spat.

"Spare us the bullshit," Isaac muttered under his breath before clearing his throat and continuing in a more level tone. "Your compatriot Spike hired us to assist the six of you with your problem regarding the Gala ticket."

Some of the ponies looked surprised at this revelation, Twilight included.

"Okay…" Twilight's tone was one of uncertainty. "Then what do you suggest I do?"

"Just return the extra ticket and let some other fucker buy it," Robert suggested bluntly, much to the approval of his two peers.

The ponies murmured amongst themselves while Twilight appeared to be deep in thought.

Suddenly, Twilight's expression became one of optimism.

"I've got it!" She declared with a wide smile.

Before anyone could ask, she teleported away in a flash of light, presumably to the library.

The remaining ponies exchanged blank glances, before simultaneously making a beeline towards the library.

/

Barely managing to keep up with the obsessed ponies, Isaac and his compatriots followed them to the library, where Rainbow Dash unceremoniously kicked the door open and entered. The others followed suite.

Upon entering, they noticed Twilight and Spike standing in the middle of the room, both of them looking rather damn pleased with themselves. The smell of smoke and wisps of green flame were present near Spike, a sign that he had just sent off a letter.

Pushing his way to the front of the crowd, Isaac hoped that Twilight had done the sensible thing and sent the ticket back so he could get his fucking money and never have to speak to her again.

"Did you send it back?" He inquired, everyone awaiting an answer.

"Even better!" Twilight said, beaming.

Before anyone could ask what she meant, Spike interjected by vomiting green flame across the room, followed by a sealed scroll that Twilight plucked out of the air and opened telekinetically.

Out of the scroll came nine tickets labeled 'Grand Galloping Gala', eliciting cheers from the idiot ponies as Twilight distributed the tickets amongst them, Spike and the trio receiving tickets as well.

"You just asked for more tickets?" Jack muttered, looking at the ticket in his hoof. "I could've thought of that…"

"Keep dreaming," Isaac snarked.

"So…I guess we're going?" Robert asked as he observed the mares rambling on about what activities they would partake in during the Gala.

"It's free, so why the fuck not?" Jack said with a smirk. "It's either that, or we sell our tickets for a shitload of cash!"

At the mention of capital, Isaac remembered their deal with Spike.

"Hey, Spike!" He said loudly, catching said dragon's attention.

"Hm?"

"Pay up." Isaac deadpanned.

"Oh, that!" Spike went and retrieved a moderately-sized sack of bits, proceeding to hand it to Isaac. "Sixty in total."

"Good." Isaac replied in a flat tone.

"So…yeah," Spike said awkwardly. "In the future, would you and your friends be willing to help me and my friends if I paid you guys the right amount?"

Isaac pondered this for a moment.

"As long as the pay correlates with the task," He replied with slight trepidation.

"Awesome!" Spike said with a grin as he held out his hand, Isaac reluctantly shaking it with his hoof before quickly returning to the marginally superior company of his fellow douchebags.

"So, I guess we've finally got a way to get money?" Robert asked, eyes never leaving the bag.

"That about sums it up," Isaac replied.

Jack looked around the room, everyone else occupied with their respective conversations. "We should go ahed and leave. Y'know, to get the money secure and shit."

"Good idea," Isaac replied with a nod, quickly following Robert and Jackson out of the library and towards the apartment, eager to store the money and brainstorm ideas of how to quickly get more. Isaac thought of Equestria's seemingly nonexistent demand for energy, and a brilliant idea tore through his head.

Step one of his plan was about to be in effect.

/

**While this chapter is short relative to the prologue, they will increase in volume.**

**Please comment, review, and give your earnest feedback.**


End file.
